Daily Yellowstone journal., 1887-05-05
AMONG THE TeLeGRAPHERS.
Busy Hours In q Great Temple OF Eiec.
~tricity-swift Operators.

Busy Hours In a Great Temple OF Elec-
tricity-swift Operators.
A busy scene was revealed when the
door opened. II was, indeed, a small vii
lage, for 500 operators were tapping away
at racing speed, while 1870 clerks and mes
sengers swiftly fitted to and fro.
.This is our day force said Mr.. Bren-
nan, the assistant manager. Ninety
Others take their places at night. The
fifty you see up there in the gallery attend
70 the commercial news, ticker service,
stock reports, etc. They use the Morse
instruments.
"what proportion Of the force is com
posed Of ladiss'"
"About one-fourth."
"Are they as efficient as meng"
"Not quite. Still they are very expert.
We have three married ladies. Most OF
the Wheatstone operators are m
SHAVE you any colored operatOrsy'
'NOt one. And so far as my know
ledge extends there Is not a colored opera
tor In the United States, At any rate,
never heard Of one"
.'Who are the veterans OF the servicef"
swell, there are two that have been al
work for the company for a quarter Of
century. You see, WI have but very few
gray or hSld heads. The operators begin
work when they are about 10 or 10 year.
old.
'fWhere are your operator nurseries,"
sin the country. Nearly the entir
force took their first lessons in the offices
along the Erie, Pennsylvania and Hudson
River railroads, and in the eastern states.
Their ambition brings them here. They
get from $50 TO SIS per month, according
20 length Of service, efficiency and ex
perience.
swhat are those curious instruments OF
which they are pounding with what looA
like pegs"
Those are the Wheatstone automatic
machines. IL works st. Louis, Chicago
and New Orleans, and averages each cir
cult $500 TO 1900 messages per day. The
popularity Of the Wheatstone instrument
is that the message is first punched fol
Transmission, and then these punched slips
are passed through a transmitting ma
chine, which records each dot, dash and
space in the corresponding machine at the
other terminus. Each stroke Of the peg
represents a dot, dash or space. The mes,
sages received are printed on chemically
prepared paper and are translated and
printed by type writers. The Wheat
stone machine has been in use about foui
years. The operators average about TIT
same as the Morse operators"
What teams turn out the most mes
eagest"
''The operators on the broker wires.
The Chicago board of trade and the New
York produce exchange handle 600 mes
eages, while only 800 are handled on the
main wires between the same cities. A
broker firm cuts its message as short AZ
possible and sign the name Of Brown,
Bates & Brown, b. b. & j., while the full
name is given in general messages. The
cable messages are like those Of brokers,
and more can be handled than Of ordinary
messages because Of their ~shOrtness."
''How fast do the cables work.
'They 60 just about as fast as an aver.
age wire. We send a message and get an
answer from London in seven minutes.
The cables TO England and the land line to
San Francisco are just about the SAINT
length, $3.50 miles"
"YOu make both ends meet here, don't
you"'
''Oh, yes. The operator on the right
works with Hearts Content, 100 miles
east, and the operator next 10 him talks
with Omaha, 1850 miles west, We have
a circuit with Jacksonville Of LOO miles,
and one with Galveston Of 1900 miles"
"Are any Of the operators affected by
the work.
Eyes. Some OF them get the teleg.
rapher's cramp from holding the pen In
one position for a length Of time. large
number thus affected in their right hands
have learned TO use their left instead
$40 they get over iti'
'Not thoroughly. The doctors have
Just begun investigating II. Operators
n prevent il by proper exercise. New
York Sun.